The present invention generally relates to an apparatus for conveying at least one fluid, and more particularly to an apparatus for conveying at least one fluid, comprising at least a first fluidic element and a second fluidic element connected to each other for conveying said fluid, and a base plate to which said first fluidic element and said second fluidic element are mounted. The present invention further relates to a base plate, and more particularly to a base plate for mounting at least a first fluidic element and a second fluidic element connectable to each other for conveying a fluid.
For example in the field of the fabrication of semiconductor devices there are used gas panels comprising a plurality of fluidic elements for distributing gases that are for example necessary for chemical vapor deposition processes, etching processes, or diffusion processes. With such gas panels the fluidic elements may for example be manual valves, regulators, filters, transducers, air operated valves, purge blocks, mass flow controllers, and base blocks. Said base blocks are generally used for connecting other fluidic elements. For example the replacing of a faulty fluidic element requires as a safety precaution that the gas panel is checked for leaks. In this context it is well-known to bring helium as a leak test agent in the proximity of a potential leak of an evacuated system. The amount of helium getting into the evacuated system is a measure for the leak rate. For example if integrated gas panels are used, due to the relative close proximity of all components, there may arise the problem that it is difficult to bring helium close to a potential leak and especially to identify a problem component that is leaking.
The present invention seeks to solve this problem by improving the above mentioned apparatus and the above mentioned base plate.